IG: Park Police lose track of guns

U.S. Park Police couldn’t account for hundreds of weapons in its inventory, according to a new Inspector General report, which found that the agency’s firearms could be vulnerable to “theft or misuse.”

Investigating an anonymous tip alleging the USPP couldn’t account for military-style rifles and its weapons program, the Interior Department’s inspector general made unannounced visits to weapons storage facilities in Washington, D.C., New York, California and Georgia, according to the report released Thursday.

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The investigation found approximately 1,400 weapons, including handguns, rifles and shotguns, that weren’t listed in inventories.

In one instance, the IG report says, an officer working President Barack Obama’s January Inauguration kept a semiautomatic rifle and stored it at home without permission.

In another example, the IG found 198 weapons at the USPP’s Anacostia facility that had come from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives that were never marked in an inventory and were supposed to be destroyed or taken apart.

The inspector general said it found problems in 2009, and despite internal memos in 2009 and 2011, problems continued.

“This report further underscores the decadelong theme of inaction and indifference of USPP leadership and management at all levels. Basic tenets of property management and supervisory oversight are missing in their simplest forms,” the deputy IG, Mary Kendall, wrote in a letter accompanying the report. “Commanders, up to and including the chief of police, have a lackadaisical attitude toward firearms management. Historical evidence indicates that this indifference is a product of years of inattention to administrative detail and management principles.”

The U.S. Park Police protects federal parks including the National Mall and its monuments.

In a statement, the National Park Service, which oversees park police, said they would begin implementing changes “starting today,” that the agency’s director told the chief of police to implement the report’s 10 recommendations and that he ordered a complete weapons inventory.

“I have no tolerance for this management failure and have ordered immediate action to implement the inspector general’s recommendations,” Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in the statement. “The safety and security of our visitors and employees remain our highest priority.”